Square Enix director Naoki Hamaguchi has laid out the studio’s rationale for continuing to build entries in the Final Fantasy VII remake series with Unreal Engine 4 rather than migrating to Unreal Engine 5.
Speaking to Japanese outlet 4Gamer, Hamaguchi framed the decision around development timelines, team expertise, and the goal of delivering the game to players without an extended delay.
Background and context
Final Fantasy VII Remake launched on April 10, 2020 for PlayStation 4 and was built on Unreal Engine 4.
Its follow-up, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, released for PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024 and also used Unreal Engine 4.
Square Enix has a long history of adapting internal workflows and engine technology across big-budget projects; that experience informed the team’s choice to maintain the existing UE4 pipeline for subsequent entries.
Why the team stayed on UE4
Hamaguchi told 4Gamer that migrating the project to Unreal Engine 5 would have added significant development time, a cost that would be hard to justify from both a business and player perspective.
He said the team’s priority was to get the game out as quickly as possible, using a workflow the studio had already proven on Remake and Rebirth.
He explained that the development team had previously customized UE4 extensively for the remake series, and that resetting development to adopt UE5 would have required rebuilding tools and pipelines—slowing progress on a project with an established production schedule.
Hamaguchi also noted that, where UE5 introduces features such as Nanite (Epic Games’ geometry streaming system), Square Enix had implemented its own comparable rendering techniques within the existing UE4 framework to achieve similar visual quality.
On internal consensus and final output
Hamaguchi said he set the direction early and avoided prolonged internal debate over switching engines.
He emphasized that the team can and does extend and modify UE4 internally when needed, and that the most important measure is the final output players experience, not the version number of the engine used.
Technical and industry context
Unreal Engine 5 entered early access in May 2021 and had its full release in April 2022.
The 4Gamer interview was translated by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS for Nintendo Everything, and the coverage also referenced a recent Unreal Engine 5.8 update that included new platform features.
Developers frequently weigh engine upgrades against production schedules; Square Enix’s decision reflects a trade-off between adopting the latest engine capabilities and maintaining momentum on a multi-part, high-profile franchise.
For readers tracking platform news, the discussion underscores how technical choices intersect with release timelines, developer workflow, and player expectations across platforms such as PlayStation and Nintendo hardware.
Speaking to Japanese outlet 4Gamer, Hamaguchi framed the decision around development timelines, team expertise, and the goal of delivering the game to players without an extended delay.
Background and context
Final Fantasy VII Remake launched on April 10, 2020 for PlayStation 4 and was built on Unreal Engine 4.
Its follow-up, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, released for PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024 and also used Unreal Engine 4.
Square Enix has a long history of adapting internal workflows and engine technology across big-budget projects; that experience informed the team’s choice to maintain the existing UE4 pipeline for subsequent entries.
Why the team stayed on UE4
Hamaguchi told 4Gamer that migrating the project to Unreal Engine 5 would have added significant development time, a cost that would be hard to justify from both a business and player perspective.
He said the team’s priority was to get the game out as quickly as possible, using a workflow the studio had already proven on Remake and Rebirth.
He explained that the development team had previously customized UE4 extensively for the remake series, and that resetting development to adopt UE5 would have required rebuilding tools and pipelines—slowing progress on a project with an established production schedule.
Hamaguchi also noted that, where UE5 introduces features such as Nanite (Epic Games’ geometry streaming system), Square Enix had implemented its own comparable rendering techniques within the existing UE4 framework to achieve similar visual quality.
On internal consensus and final output
Hamaguchi said he set the direction early and avoided prolonged internal debate over switching engines.
He emphasized that the team can and does extend and modify UE4 internally when needed, and that the most important measure is the final output players experience, not the version number of the engine used.
Technical and industry context
Unreal Engine 5 entered early access in May 2021 and had its full release in April 2022.
The 4Gamer interview was translated by Simon Griffin and SatsumaFS for Nintendo Everything, and the coverage also referenced a recent Unreal Engine 5.8 update that included new platform features.
Developers frequently weigh engine upgrades against production schedules; Square Enix’s decision reflects a trade-off between adopting the latest engine capabilities and maintaining momentum on a multi-part, high-profile franchise.
For readers tracking platform news, the discussion underscores how technical choices intersect with release timelines, developer workflow, and player expectations across platforms such as PlayStation and Nintendo hardware.